Fragments Of Faith
by Draco's-Loyal-Longing
Summary: Kate is missing, and Jack is desperate to find her. He turns to the only man who can help him find her, Sawyer, and all hell breaks loose. But what if Kate doesn't want to be saved? Jate
1. She's Gone

A/N: I do not own Lost, as common sense would tell you.

* * *

Jack sat on the beach, watching as the waves crashed into the rocks below. It was a sight he rarely got to watch. All kinds of dangers awaited a group of unsuspecting people in an unfamiliar land, and since he was the only doctor he had his work cut out for him. No one could stay unharmed for very long.

But now he felt himself overcome by an unexplainable urge to just sit and not think about anything. All he wanted to do was relax and watch the natural beauty of the world.

He could hear the friendly chatter coming from the beach behind him. Probably wondering what he was doing sitting when he could be back at the hatch, waiting like any doctor in his regular office, waiting for the patients to come filing in. But he didn't care what they thought. He felt he deserved a reward for his patience after everything he had dealt with.

"Hey." A familiar voice broke through his silence. He didn't need to look up to know who it was. Kate sat herself down beside Jack, her attention focused on him instead of the ocean.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were out hunting with Locke," Jack asked, but his voice expressed no regret. He thoroughly enjoyed her company, and was always looked forward to their conversations, as long as they weren't about anyone's past.

He saw Kate shrug through his peripheral vision. "There's only so much hunting you can do in a day. And besides, seeing you lounging on the beach seemed much more appealing at the time."

"I see." A small smile was forming on the side of Jack's face, and Kate smiled too.

"Yeah. So how long do you expect to stay here?" she asked, seriousness setting in.

Jack shrugged. "As long as I can. Why?" For the first time he tore his eyes away from the ocean to stare at Kate. They made eye contact for a split second before she turned away.

"No reason. I've got to go see Sawyer for something," she said, standing up and wiping the sand from her jeans.

"I'll see you back at the caves," Jack called after her as she made her way into the jungle.

Kate stopped walking, a guilty expression on her face. She looked back at him, but his attention was once again on the ocean. She turned around and started walking again, passing Sawyer's empty tent as she did.

* * *

Kate entered the jungle with a heavy heart. She had meant to tell Jack, or at least give him a little clue to what she was about to do just in case things went differently than she had planned, but she couldn't do it. He was so peaceful out on the beach, a rare treat indeed, and she just couldn't ruin that.

Ever since they had crashed on the island, she hadn't thought that Jack would become to her what he was. An acquaintance at the very most, certainly not a close friend, and definitely not someone she would fall in love with.

But he never cast judgement on her except when it was unavoidable. She knew she couldn't keep her story concealed forever from anyone, and knew that when it came into light that people would look at her differently. And the outcome of Sawyer's exposure of her was predictable.

Jack was the only one she could ever completely count on. Even when he was pissed he always found some time for her, and she had thought she could tell him what she was about to do, and was scared that she couldn't.

All she could hope for now was that he would find out from her when the time was right.

A snap of a branch broke her from her reverie, and she spun around, her eyes searching everywhere behind her. Finding nothing, she reluctantly continued. No more than five minutes later she heard the ruffle of leaves and an income of breath.

Slowly and carefully she walked the way she had come over to the massive tree off to the shadows. She had a hunch who was there.

"Sawyer, what are you doing?"

Sawyer's face held an expression of half shock and half amusement. "I was out picking fruit when I happened upon you. Where the hell are you going?" he asked as if she had failed to mention a trip they were both going on.

"None of your damn business. Stop following me, or I swear Sawyer…"

"You'll do what? Shoot me?" he sneered.

She just stared at him. "Go back. I'll know if you don't. You can't keep yourself hidden for very long, and you know it."

Sawyer shrugged. "Alright, alright, I'll go back. I just hope you can find your way back. It would be a shame if you got lost out here. Who knows if I'll be able to find my way back here again."

He turned around and started back towards the beach without a second look back. But Kate knew better. Sawyer knew she could find her way back to the hatch or the beach in her sleep and that he could follow her trail accurately if he needed to.

After making sure he was, in fact gone, she continued.

* * *

"Has anyone seen Kate?" Jack asked later that day.

"No." That was the answer he got in various forms. The few who said they had seen her told him that they had seen her enter the jungle hours before and hadn't seen her since.

That was when he remembered. She had said that she needed to speak with Sawyer.

Just as abruptly as he came, he left the hatch about to talk to the last person he wanted to.

James Ford, aka Sawyer.

He made his way to the beach, not exactly sure what he was expecting. Sawyer knew something, that much he was certain of. Other than Sun and himself, Sawyer was the person she confided in most, as much as it pained him to admit it. Why, he had no idea, but she did, and that was all he needed to go by.

When he got to the beach, he became aware of other survivors watch in confusion at his anxiety. He did his best to ignore them, and stormed into Sawyer's tent. Sawyer was reading a book, the cover torn away, probably because it had been waterlogged before it had dried off. Sawyer found it incredibly interesting, and didn't appreciate it when one of his least favorite people came into his quarters uninvited.

"Where is she?" Jack demanded the minute he stepped into his tent.

"Good evening to you too, Doc."

"Where is she?" he repeated, not bothering to conceal his agitation.

"Well, I must say I don't have the slightest idea what you're talking about. She hasn't been to see me all day," he spat, his eyes on the pages of his book, but his eyes weren't moving.

"Bull. She said she needed to talk to you about something and hasn't shown up since."

"And what, you think I kidnapped her and stashed her mangled body deep in the jungle, is that it?" he asked bitterly, throwing his book down and standing up to his full height.

Jack didn't say anything, but he could see that Sawyer didn't know where she was any more than he did.

Sighing, Sawyer said, "Look, I saw her walk through the jungle so I followed her for a bit, but she found me, and I didn't see much point in continuing to trail behind when she would know I was there anyway. If she hasn't come back yet, then my guess is she's still doing whatever she went in there to do."

"Did she tell you what she was doing?"

At this Sawyer let out another bitter laugh. "If she did then I wouldn't have come back, would I?"

Jack nodded, doing his best to look calm. "Alright. Thanks anyway," he said, then exited, trudging back to the hatch with the hope that she would be there when he got back. A part of him hoped she might even have a little scrape that he could patch up so that he'd have an excuse to ask her what she was doing.

Those in the hatch were staring at him when he reached the hatch again. "Everything's fine, okay?" he announced, although he knew it would be a miracle to get anyone to believe him. They knew him better than that, and knew when something was bothering him. It was a trait he carried with him wherever he went.

"What's wrong? Is it Kate?" Charlie asked, sitting across from him by the table.

"Yeah." He figured it was better not to lie.

Charlie nodded. "Well, Kate's a big girl. I'm sure she's fine. She'll get back here when she can. She's too smart to get captured or anything like that. You don't have anything to worry about. Besides Locke, she's probably the best person to be with out there in the jungle," he said, doing his best to comfort his friend.

"If anyone should know that, it's me. I know I'm overreacting. You're right, she's fine," Jack said, though more to himself than to Charlie.

"There you go. You might want to sleep on it, you look like you could do with some rest," Charlie said as he headed back to the beach to Claire and Aaron.

For once, Jack heeded someone else's advice, and got some sleep, hoping that Kate would be back when he woke.

* * *

The next morning Jack was woken to the sound of hushed voices. He couldn't make out what they were saying, and he didn't quite care. He got up and gathered some relatively clean clothes and decided on a quick shower. He hadn't taken one in a while, and knew he needed one.

The warm water felt like heaven against his sore body. Patching people up had definitely left it's mark on him, and soothing water was exactly what he needed.

He spent enough time there for the room to steam up a bit, but not too terribly. There wasn't enough hot water to take the amount of time he did back home, and he wasn't going to be the only one taking a shower that day.

After dressing in a gray t-shirt and blue jeans he went to find Locke since he knew he would be up. The man rarely slept.

And sure enough, Locke was sitting in the room that once held Henry Gale, staring at a piece of paper as though waiting for it to come alive and speak to him.

"John, where's Kate? Did she show up?" Jack asked.

Locke looked up at him and gave him a straightforward answer, only because he had called him by his first name. Jack only did that when he was worried, angry, or scared.

"I don't know. She didn't come in before I went to sleep, and she wasn't here when I woke up."

Jack was out of the hatch before Locke even finished the sentence. Something was amiss, but he didn't know what. He ran into the jungle as fast as he could. "Kate!"

Nobody replied, and he hadn't expected anyone to. But he kept running anyway, hoping against hope that she would answer him. "KATE!" he kept screaming her name until his throat ran dry. Reaching the invisible line the Others had drawn for them and finding no sign of Kate, his heart started beating faster.

There was only one man he knew of that could help him find her.

Sawyer.

* * *

A/N: My first Lost fic, please let me know what you think of it so far. 


	2. Destination Unknown

_A/N: I do not own Lost, as common sense would tell you._

_Thanks to all who reviewed, I wasn't expecting that many! I hope you all like this chapter!_

* * *

Sawyer sat up watching the sunrise. Back in his life before the crash he rarely had the chance to appreciate the beauty of everything. He had always been preoccupied with other matters, more or less conning. Nobody else was awake yet on the beach, and Sawyer preferred it that way. The other survivors didn't really annoy him, but he saw the looks they gave him.

The last thing he expected at that particular moment was Jack, hero of the survivors to come bursting into his tent for the second time in two days. In his haste he had failed to see Sawyer sitting outside, and bypassed him completely. Sawyer, outraged at his audacity to enter his quarters uninvited, followed him, but stopped when he saw the look on the doctor's face. Last time he entered, he had been vexed because his precious Kate wasn't around when he needed her. Now, he expressed nothing but panic.

Both men just stood there inside the tent, tension cutting through the silence like a knife. "What?" Sawyer finally got out, although he already knew the answer.

"Kate's missing," Jack said simply, his voice cracking through his fear.

"What?" Sawyer asked incredulously. Since when had Kate, of all people, become prey to the jungle? She was much too strong for that.

Jack gave him a knowing look. Sawyer sighed exasperatedly, knowing he was right. He knew full well that if Jack said Kate was missing, then it was true. As much as he hated to admit it.

"So what am I supposed to do?" he asked, sitting down on his chair, trying to answer his own question.

"First we assemble a search team. As many people as we can. She's had at least a half day's head start. I need you to help me lead because you're the only one who knows which direction she was headed."

"Whoa, wait a second, Doc. I followed her only so far, then I turned back. I can take you to the place we split up, but only that far. Anything after that is only speculation," Sawyer explained, trying to remain calm, but his own fear was palpable as well.

Jack nodded. "Yes, but anything is better than nothing," he said, then looked down, rubbing the back of his neck in a strained way. "You're the only one I know who can help me. You're the only one who saw her inside the jungle."

"Hey, I never said I wouldn't help. I'll help you lead the search team, and do anything beyond that. But you've got to trust me. Okay?"

Jack looked him square in the eye, searching for any signs of mistrust, but he nodded. "Okay, it's a deal. We need to gather everyone up and start right away, we can't afford to lose any more time. I'll get Locke and Eko on it," he said, the panic wiped from his face, setting into the role of leader once more.

Sawyer said nothing, but watched as Jack made his way back towards the hatch, hisplan set in motion. Yeah, it was a good plan, probably the best one they could've mustered even with more time. But he wasn't about to admit that to Jack.

So what choice did he have but to follow his orders and gather the search team? With a heavy heart full of mixed emotions, he set about the task. No matter what the cost, they had to bring Kate back.

* * *

Jack marched to the hatch, determined to have everyone left on the island up into the jungle with whatever they needed in order to find her. She would never have left them willingly, he knew that about her. Someone or something was putting her up to this, he just knew it. The question was, who? And why?

Kate had proved on many occasions to be a natural leader. She was a strong woman, probably one of the strongest Jack ever had the pleasure of knowing. Why she would take off into the jungle on her own was beyond him. There just wasn't any logical explanation.

True, he was feeling better, and much more confidant know that he had enlisted Sawyer. No matter his ill-feelings towards him, he was certain that he would do his task.

The hatch came into view, and he sped up a bit. The door was still open from when he had previously burst from it that morning. Apparently Locke and Eko were still inside. Good.

"Locke. Locke!" Jack called, running into the room with the computer where he knew the man would be as usual.

Locke only looked up when Jack came into his line of vision, and even then, it was only a spare glance. "Did you find her?"

Jack shook his head. "No. I went out and talked to Sawyer. He's going to set up a search party. I need you to help. You're our best tracker."

Locke smiled and let out a small laugh. "That's awful nice of you, but with all due respect, I don't really think enlisting the aid of a search party is the best idea."

This time it was Jack's turn to be incredulous. "'Not the best idea?' Locke, Kate is out there and hasn't shown up since yesterday afternoon. She wouldn't just leave of her own free will. She could be seriously injured, and if that's the case then we need as many people as we can get so she can be treated."

"Yes, but we both know that's not true. She's not injured, people all around have been saying they saw enter the jungle alone. In all the time we've been on this island, has she ever gotten hurt? Has she ever let herself be talked into going somewhere that she knows is dangerous without any of us?" Locke asked, in his usual know-it-all voice that Jack had learned to hate yet respect.

"Either way John, we need to find her. Anything could've happened to her by now. If she's fine great, but then at least we would know. Are you going to help or not?" Jack asked, his final word settling into Locke's ears.

"Of course I'm going to help." Locke stood up and walked over to Jack. "Mr. Eko's out at the moment. With all the people down at the beach, I think we can afford to leave someone here when the alarm sets. Someone needs to stay here and push in the numbers."

Jack contemplated this, but then nodded. "Okay. Let's go," he said, and they headed off back to the beach.

By the time they got there, nearly two thirds of the survivors were standing, waiting for them to arrive. All looked determined, with only one thing on their minds.

Kate needed to come back.

Sawyer didn't have to do much in order to get anyone's help. They all knew something was wrong just at the look on his face. They were observant enough to know that Kate was really the only person Sawyer truly cared about on the island. The grim expression on his face only set their suspicions to facts.

They all promised to do whatever they could to help bring her back, or at least the ones who were capable. Sawyer stood at the front of them, watching as Jack and Locke descended down towards them.

"Thank you all for helping. I realize that this is very short notice, but the earlier we start the better. How many of us are there?" Jack announced, looking at Sawyer.

Sawyer shrugged. "Probably twenty or so."

Jack nodded knowingly. "Alright. Sawyer will lead us up to the spot where he last saw Kate. Once we're there we'll split up into teams. Ten of you will go with me, the others will go with Locke. You find anything, anything at all no matter how insignificant you think it is, you yell. Any questions?"

No one answered. They all had heard this before when Claire and Charlie had gone missing. Some had even taken brief glimpses at the couple, who were standing among the crowd, eager to help. If they noticed this, they didn't show it.

"Great. Sawyer, if you will," Jack said, extending an arm towards the jungle to indicate that he could take the lead. Sawyer stepped forward anxiously and everyone else followed obediently.

Jack and Locke followed him closely, searching in every direction for anything, although they knew the odds of finding anything this early on were slim to none.

Every so often they would take a glance at the back of Sawyer's head. They knew he was being just as astute as they were, but all the same….

Twenty minutes later they were stopped by Sawyer, who had stopped short, looking around. Jack knew he wasn't mistaken. This was the last place Kate had been seen.

"Okay Doc. This is as far as I can take you," Sawyer told him, sounding sincerely apologetic.

Jack turned around, temporarily ignoring Sawyer before answering. "You bunch," he indicated the five people closest to the left, "You go with Locke. The rest of you will go with Sawyer and me. Remember what I told you. Good luck."

The group split up accordingly and, with a last glance at Jack, Locke took his group left. Jack was then left with the space straight ahead.

* * *

Kate woke with a start. At first she had forgotten where she was, but then she remembered. She was in the jungle. Deep.

She crawled out of the little cave she had found at sunset, wiping away the dirt that now caked her clothes and skin, but it was a futile attempt, and she knew it. She reached into the backpack she had taken, and grabbed an apple that would serve as her breakfast. She knew she had to get moving before somebody found her. It wasn't time. Not yet.

She finished the apple within seven minutes, and absent-mindedly threw the core into the patch of trees to the side of her. Everything was deathly silent, but she knew she wasn't the only one wandering around. Besides the French woman and the dreaded Others, she knew that by now Jack was probably going insane with worry. It brought a stab of guilt into her heart, and her mind was brought back to the previous day when she had sat beside him in the sand. She had meant to tell him that she was going to leave for a while and to not look for her, but she couldn't.

He had been so relaxed, so at ease, and it was a rare sight to behold. She couldn't break that feeling by telling him she was leaving.

She could make out that conversation in her head already. 'Why are you running, Kate? You don't have to keep running.'

What did he know? Yeah, he had felt his share of pain and loneliness in the past, and she knew that deep down he understood how she felt, but what he didn't understand was her need to move.

She had to keep running. Running was the only thing she could do with certainty. It was the one thing that always made sense. Did it make her a coward? No. It made her strong; at least that was what she had convinced herself of long ago. Running had saved her life more than once. Sometimes physically, sometimes emotionally. It didn't matter how many times she explained it to Jack. He would simply never understand.

And with that thought in mind, she quickened her pace, and continued running into the distance, destination unknown.

* * *

He had a good feeling as they made their way straight ahead. She had been here, he was certain of it. Jack didn't express his certainty to any of the other survivors he had taken with him. In fact, his thoughts were the complete opposite of the others judging by the looks on their faces.

They had looked hopeful and confident on their trek inside, maybe even when they were an hour in. Their path continued way beyond their eyesight would allow them, and he knew as soon as he saw it that they were on the right trail. If Kate had gone of her own free will, then this was the direction she would go, assuming that Sawyer had lead them right.

"Jack," a relatively familiar voice came from the back of the group. Everyone turned around to the unexpected speaker. It was Rose.

"It's getting to be evening. We haven't eaten, and there is no trace of her. We need to go back. We can continue tomorrow."

"And come all the way out here again tomorrow just to stop at the same place? If you want to go, then go. No one's stopping you," he said, more harshly than he intended.

Rose stopped, and nodded. "Alright. Good luck. You'll find her. She's out there somewhere. I can feel it."

"Thanks for helping, I really appreciate it," Jack called after her. Everyone was staring after her, trying to decide if they wanted to go back with her or continue with Jack and Sawyer. The two men ignored them and continued. They were getting deeper and deeper, and they knew that as far in as they were already, Kate was even further.

And they couldn't give up. They just couldn't.

* * *

_A/N: Drop me a line!_


	3. Close But No Cigar

_A/N: Nope. Still don't own anything on Lost._

* * *

"What are you doing?" Jack heard the voice, but didn't respond. Sitting in a pile of leaves, listening to the sound of nothing except the occasional bird helped little in trying to get his mind off everything. He didn't really want someone sitting beside him trying to figure out what he was thinking or trying to make him feel better. That was Kate's job.

"We need to keep moving. Every second we waste resting is a second more we could have to find her," Jack said stubbornly. It wasn't his decision to take a break and set up camp for the night, and if he had done what he had originally intended to do in the first place, he might have even made some progress.

Sayid let out a little chuckle. "Jack, everyone here wants to bring Kate back. But it doesn't do to keep trekking into the jungle on nothing but determination. You also need your senses on full alert; something you cannot have unless you have had the required amount of rest."

"She's out there, Sayid. She's out there and she's probably still running deeper into the jungle. She knows we would stop like we're doing now, and she's taking full advantage of that."

Sayid hesitated for a moment, not wanting to upset Jack even more than he already was, but started again. "Jack, Kate is not stupid. She's smarter than that. She knows the dangers of staying out here for days at a time without rest. If anything, she stopped hours before we did."

"How do you know that?" Jack demanded, setting his eyes on Sayid for the first time since the start of their conversation.

"Because I know of her abilities as a tracker, and so do you if I am not mistaken. She knew what she was getting into." With that, Sayid stood up and headed back to the campfire the other survivors made, a good fifteen feet away from the grieving doctor.

Deep down Jack knew that Sayid was right. He knew Kate better than that. He knew that she wouldn't dare to keep walking deeper into the mass of unknown terrain in the middle of the night by herself. Yes, she was more than capable of doing it, but she wasn't stupid enough to let herself do it. Jack knew all too well.

"Jack!" At the sound of his voice he jerked to life. He was taken aback only for a brief second at the sight of daylight. He realized that he must've fallen asleep dwelling too much on Kate, and that they had a duty to continue.

"Are you alright?" Sayid asked, genuine concern written on his face.

Jack nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go."

With Sawyer at his side, he took the lead of the search party, hunting for any clue as to her whereabouts, and if they were even still on the right trail. They hadn't heard from anyone in Locke's group, and Jack didn't know whether to take that as a good sign or a bad sign. He almost wished that Locke was with them right now, because he was a much better tracker than he or Sawyer were.

Against his will, he found his mind drifting to their last conversation, however brief, on the beach. She had sat beside him, and they had made small talk, like anyone would've.

"_So how long do you expect to stay here?" _

"_As long as I can. Why?" _

Of course! Why the hell hadn't he seen it before? She had entered the jungle immediately after that conversation. Why hadn't he seen it before? She had wanted to tell him something, and he had been so distracted that she couldn't. Or wouldn't.

Something was amiss. What the hell was it?

* * *

They were close. Every so often she would hear whispers. She knew Jack would form a search party and do everything he could to find her. She just hadn't expected it to be so soon.

How had she become so careless? Had almost two months in this vast, unknown region really lowered her proficiency to get away? Three years on the run had to mean something, right?

Kate prayed for rain. It never came when she wished for it, but whenever she wanted the sun to be out, to have a beautiful day, the rain came. Tracking Ethan in order to find Charlie and Claire had ended, almost fatally, because it had rained. When she was trying to get away, it didn't rain. She didn't understand it.

As she picked up her stride, she strained her ears to the whispering. It didn't go away, as she had hoped it would. If anything, it got even louder.

And, as if an invisible brick had collided with her head, she knew the whispering wasn't coming from Jack's search team. No, it was coming from someone, or something, else.

Forgetting what remained of her astuteness, she ran. She pushed her already tired legs as hard as she could, the need to get away never as real as it was just then. If she got caught up in the whispers, then those that made them would be there, ready for her, and if they took her, than there would be almost no chance of her ever finding her way back to Jack.

But wasn't that the reason she left in the first place? To get away? If she could continue telling herself that, than maybe she would start to believe it. The truth was, maybe she was starting to go crazy. Maybe the only way to get away was to run from the only safe place she had ever truly known, with the safest people she had ever known. She had been a fool to leave, she saw that now, and if she got away from the whispering, than she would turn around and go back.

But nothing was that simple. She saw that as soon as she tripped over an invisible branch, fell face first into a pile of dirt, rendering her unconscious as a group of four or so lifted her into the air and took her to their version of civilization.

* * *

All she saw was darkness. She didn't even know if she had opened her eyes. She couldn't feel anything. She opened her mouth to speak, but found she couldn't do that either. She was left to form silent questions in the back of her mind instead.

Where am I?

What am I doing here?

Who are you people?

As if hearing her questions, a deep laugh came from a man sitting silently in the corner of what could only be accurately described as her cell.

"Glad to see you're finally awake, Kate." The man's voice was gruff, holding nothing but amusement, which Kate found incredibly unnerving.

"Wh-What? How do you…"

"Shh. Be quiet. You'll feel better if you just listen to me right now. Your obvious questions can come later."

"B-But…"

Out of nowhere, Kate felt the sting of a slap across her cheek. The man she hadn't noticed sitting beside her was glaring at her with anger she hadn't seen since Wayne.

"He told you to be quiet!" This man's voice was much younger, but still held an air of hardship, like the man with the beard sitting in front of her. What had these people been through in their lives?

"Greg, that's enough!" The first man snapped, causing Greg to jump back in his chair, silent once more.

"You'll have to forgive Greg here. He still hasn't quite gotten used to the whole manners thing," he apologized.

Kate didn't show any response, except for the growing anger in her eyes, which the gruff man could read quite easily.

"I know you wish to know why you were brought here, and I assure you that your questions will all be answered in time. For the time being, I'm afraid that you are to remain here so you can let the grogginess dissipate."

He stood up and headed for the door, the man known as Greg right behind him. Kate made a somewhat feeble attempt to follow, but she couldn't move, and actually preferred that she couldn't.

"Wait…" she let out, but no one could hear. She sat back in her chair, angry and confused, but most of all scared. Scared that she would never see Jack, Sawyer, or anyone again. Scared that she would never get a chance to explain herself and her reasons or actions to them. Sure, they showed just temporary fear and then a couple days later everything was back to normal.

She owed it to them to explain herself and her situation. Even if it didn't matter anymore and they were stuck on the island for the rest of their lives, she didn't think they deserved to spend all that time wondering what the hell she did. They were probably all still wondering just how dangerous she really was.

But she would never get a chance to unless she at least tried to get out of there. And she would try. And when she did, there would be hell to pay.

* * *

"Jack! Over here!" The unexpected sound of Locke's voice came from the clearing three yards away. Jack was the first one running in his direction, not expecting the two groups to meet up so soon.

Locke was standing in his usual posture whenever he found something, and for the first time since in the short time he knew the man, he was happy to find him.

"What is it?" Jack and Sayid asked at the same time, squatting down to Locke's level to find what he had.

"Footprints. And, an eaten apple core just a few miles south of here. From the look of it, it was eaten maybe a day ago. These footprints are fresh, maybe an hour old if that. We're close." Locke looked up, smiling into Jack's hopeful eyes.

"Then let's go!" Jack said, and headed the team once more, everyone else at his heels.

They were close. She was close. They would find her soon, it was only a matter of time.

But this bout of joy lasted for only ten minutes when Locke spoke up again. "Jack, hold it."

The doctor stopped in his tracks, his patience wearing thin. "What? You said she was close! If we don't continue then we'll…"

"No. We were closer probably five minutes ago. Look at the footprints now." Everyone put their heads down to look at the ground to listen to what Locke had to say.

"To the untrained eye, only our tracks can be seen since they're everywhere. But if you will look here," he put his knife down on the ground to a track made by a hiking shoe, like the ones Kate was wearing, "here," he pointed his knife to another track, this one made by bare feet, "here, and here. Do you all remember anyone taking off their shoes to go exploring in an unfamiliar jungle?"

Everyone shook their heads, knowing where the man was going with this. "This is where Kate met up with, I'm guessing three or four people. And here," he walked over to a spot three inches from where Jack was standing, "is where Kate's tracks disappear and the other tracks start."

For a moment nothing Locke was saying was comprehending, then the same conclusion was reached to them all at the same time.

"You mean to say…" Sawyer started, but didn't finish.

"Yes. I don't think I have to say it. What we need to do now is not find a trail, but a camp. A camp probably another couple days walk at least. Whoever doesn't want to come with us doesn't have to, but at this point it would be silly to turn back, especially if you don't know how to find your way back."

"We're going," Charlie stated obviously, determination in his voice. Murmurs of agreement soon followed, and Jack couldn't help but be amazed at the concern they all were holding. If they got out alive, he would have to remember to thank them later.

"Let's go," Locke said, and this time he led the way down the trail into the part of the jungle no one had yet to explore.

* * *

_A/N: The weird stuff is yet to come! Drop me a note!_


	4. Questions Without Answers

_A/N: Nope, still don't own squat. And, to let you know so you don't get confused, this takes place after The Hunting Party._

* * *

Sawyer didn't know what to feel as he trudged helplessly behind Locke and Jack on the what seemed like endless search for Kate. He had always known that the Doc had felt something towards her, but he could never have imagined just how intense those feelings really were.

He had always got the feeling that she had felt something towards him, maybe more as the friend/companion thing they had just then. Nobody treated him the same way as she did. When she left, so did a little piece of normalcy he had ever felt on the island. He had always felt like he had known Kate forever.

He hadn't said much ever since he had gathered all the willing survivors that wanted to help find the second half of the leadership party. What would he say? They had made it quite clear ever since the first week they had been stranded on the island that they weren't interested in anything he had to say.

Suddenly Locke stopped in his tracks. Everyone else did too, watching him expectantly, including Sawyer. Many people were whispering to themselves, wondering what the hunter extraordinaire had to tell them this time. Jack looked like he couldn't make up his mind whether to feel hopeful or impatient. He decided to show a mixture of both.

"What is it?" he asked, voicing the thoughts of everyone else.

Instead of explaining something like he usually did, he brought his index finger to his lips as a sign for them to be quiet. It worked, almost too well.

Sawyer kept his eyes fixed on Locke. He couldn't help but wonder what the man was up to, or looking for this far from their side of the beach. And to be honest, he couldn't hear a damn thing.

He opened his mouth to speak, but someone beat him to it. "What are we doing, besides just standing here listening to nothing?" It was Charlie, standing somewhere behind him.

Sawyer, like everyone else, watched Locke for an answer. But he didn't reply. "Charlie is right. This doesn't seem to be getting us anywhere. We have already wasted five minutes right now," Sayid replied, and soon everyone else was murmuring in agreement.

To everyone's relief, Locke nodded. "I thought I heard something up there, like footsteps. You all need to be on your guard, and your senses alert. If you want to help and be out here, you need to learn to listen."

Without anything else to say, he trudged along, looking everywhere for some sign. Hour after hour passed, and the anxiety of the group was making itself visible, little by little. Jack sensed it, but chose to ignore it. He couldn't admit to the inevitable. That Kate was gone, maybe even…well, he wouldn't admit to it. He wouldn't wave his hidden white flag in defeat.

Memories of Kate kept fighting their way to the front of his brain, so that pieces of all their meetings would flash before his eyes at once. Regrettably, shamefully, a lot of them included him throwing hurtful accusations at her, catching her off guard. All of them hurt her, he knew it then and he knew it now, but somehow, selfishly, he had needed to do it. To have someone to blame.

If he could take it all back, he would. He would make it up to her by rescuing her, or bringing her back, whichever way it happened to be.

"Jack." Sayid's voice cut into his unspoken promises. He and Locke turned around to face him, to hear what he had to say this time.

Sayid hesitated before he spoke, his hands on his hips, that defeated look on his face like he had every time he had to say something no one wanted to hear. "I hate to say it, but we're on a goose chase. It has to stop. How long will be out here before someone back on the beach or the caves gets seriously hurt? Who is out there that can take care of them?"

Jack gave a small smile, not wanting to hear what he knew Sayid was going to say. "What are you saying? That we should give up?"

"It wouldn't be like that, and you know it. I'm just saying that we are deeper in the jungle than we have ever been before. It has taken us two days just to get here, which means it is going to take us two days to get back from here. The fruit is getting scarce, and our water is running low. If we continue under these conditions, we would be committing suicide," he said boldly.

Some people started murmuring amongst themselves at this, knowing the ex-soldier was speaking the truth. Jack knew that after this, he would lose at least half of the search team.

"We can't just leave her in the hands of these Others. We all know what they are capable of. Ethan showed us that all too willingly. Yes, if we continue then it would be like suicide to us, but if we give up then its murder to her!" Jack snapped. As could be expected, more muttering occurred after these words. Even Sawyer was at a loss for words.

Sayid sighed. "You know that we do not have the energy or the resources to continue like this for who knows how long. I am not having this discussion. We are turning back. We have no choice."

"You can go. But I'm staying."

No one moved. It was clear by their expressions that they were afraid of going back without their doctor and leader. What would happen if they just left him out here? Would he be caught next?

"Jack, Sayid's right. We can come back later, but we need to restock. We can head back out first thing in the morning," Locke suggested, though it was more like a light-hearted command.

Seeing no way out of the situation, Jack nodded weakly. "Fine." _Soon, Kate. I'll find you soon. I promise._

* * *

Kate jumped at the sound the door made when it opened. Hours had passed since the two men had left her, groggy, tired, and thoroughly pissed off. The same two men came in who had been there when she woke up the first time. "Hello again, Kate."

Kate didn't answer.

The older man laughed. "I know how you're feeling. I was confused when I was in your position, many years ago. You may not remember me, but…"

"I remember you. You almost killed me when you found me in the jungle."

The man laughed again. "You have it wrong. I was never going to kill you. You were more like leverage to get your leader, Jack, to see things the way they were going to be. You of all people should've known that."

Kate glared at him. She wanted to tell him she knew that he was lying, but somehow knew that he was telling the truth. He had had no intention of harming her then. She couldn't say the same thing this time.

"My name is Mr. Friendly, in case you have forgotten, but you can call me Tom, if you prefer."

Almost against her will, Kate shot her head up to glare at him. Did he know…but of course he couldn't…was he doing this on purpose?

He just gave her an innocent look, seemingly unaware of how much the name 'Tom' meant to her, but he could sense her uneasiness.

"You are not here on purpose. I know that you must be waiting to ask that question at the right time, so I'll spare you the trouble. We have been watching you for some. Seen you do everything you could to prove yourself to Jack." He spat the name like it was something disgusting.

"We have watched you befriend the southerner too. They both mean something to you, something more than you would care to admit. And you mean something to them too," he said casually, watching her for the reaction that was coming.

"Is that why you're doing this? Do you want something from them?" she asked exasperatedly.

Tom let out that ridiculous gruff laugh once more. "No. Their possessions are meaningless to me. This is much bigger than that. You are bigger than that, and I think that deep down, you know that."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I am talking about you. Your contributions to the island may go unnoticed by your fellow survivors, but they do not go unnoticed by us. Have you ever wondered why your plane crashed here? Why you just happened to be on it, and why you were one of those that survived, instead just another body falling from the sky?"

Before Kate could respond to this, Tom continued. "Tell me. Why did you save his life? The farmer who turned you in?"

* * *

"Did you find her?"

"Where is she?"

"Why did she leave?" Everyone who didn't join the search party were bombarding those that did with all sorts of questions, questions that Jack wanted to ask himself. He now knew how celebrities felt.

He left the others to find some alone time. The last thing he wanted was to see anyone except Kate. They were all acting so selfish. It was selfish to give up on Kate because of some injuries somebody _might_ get in the future. They said they understood, but no one understood.

No matter what they said, it wasn't useless. And they had been too damn close just to turn around and go back. Why did they find it so easy to keep living their island lives without Kate? Kate was a part of their island family. Without one, they suffered; that was their attitudes when Boone and Shannon died. They had all let their grief show, and even today they still weren't quite the same.

They were all acting like nothing had happened, that Kate was just off somewhere, planting seeds in her garden with Sun, or picking fruit for them all to eat without showing any gratitude. It was all just so easy to pretend like nothing happened.

He feet led him to the hatch almost automatically, and Jack wasn't fully aware of where he was until he saw Mr. Eko sitting in front of the computer, watching Jack for answers that he had to know that he did not have.

"You did not find her, did you?"

Jack shook his head. "No."

Mr. Eko smiled encouragingly. "Tomorrow, I will go out with you. I will help you find her."

Jack took a moment to stare at him appreciatively before answering. "Sounds good."

"We will not come back without her," Mr. Eko said, determinedly.

Jack stared at him incredulously before replying. "Okay."

* * *

_A/N: Good? Let me know._


	5. Trust Misplaced

_A/N: I just want to say to everyone how happy I am with all the response that I have gotten. This story is for you guys! And to answer a question I received, it did take them two days to get back to camp, I just skipped a day, that's all. Lost does that all the time._

* * *

Jack didn't fully comprehend what Mr. Eko had said until after he agreed to what he offered. He could only watch as the African man grabbed two guns and handed one to him. Not come back? He had fought to do just that, but deep down he knew that he had to return to his fellow survivors because they needed him just as much as Kate did.

It had been nearly a week since her disappearance, and he heard the talk of the others. Kate surely had to be dead, or close to death by now. There just couldn't be a way she could be so far out in the jungle on her own alive at this time. No one was that amazing.

Every time he heard that he wanted to run to the person and introduce him to his fist. How dare they suggest that Kate couldn't take care of herself. He knew she had spent some time on the run; she could keep herself alive there. Being stranded on an island wasn't any different. Especially an island that was much different than any other.

"We should go now, before any of the others notice our absence," Mr. Eko announced, walking calmly to the door, straining his ear outside before going out, making sure no one else was there.

Jack silently agreed, following him to the door. Mr. Eko opened the door slowly, as if afraid to let in an invisible danger known only to him.

"No one's here. We can go," Jack pointed out, impatience settling in. He was glad to have the help of the great tracker, but the need to find Kate overrode that. They needed to go now just to get to the spot where the search party had given up.

Mr. Eko turned to face him. "We need to make sure we are not followed. If any of the others know about this then it is over for all of us."

Jack didn't bother asking him what that meant. He knew deep in his heart what the man was talking about.

Satisfied, Mr. Eko started on, Jack at his heels. He wasn't used to being the one that followed, and found the position slightly unnerving yet oddly relaxing.

"Do you know which way you went on your first trip out here?" Mr. Eko asked calmly, staring into Jack's eyes as though searching for the answer there.

Jack nodded. "We saw this clearing about ten minutes in, and we just kept going straight for a couple miles or so. Do you think there is still a trail after all this time?"

Mr. Eko didn't answer right away. Instead he hurried over to the patch of land that Jack had indicated and squatted down to look over the ground in a manner that reminded Jack of Locke.

"It is very vague, and there are many other sets of prints, but if I follow yours for a while, we can get to where you stopped maybe by dark then continue from there in the morning," Eko explained, glancing up at Jack in a manner that suggested he knew Jack wouldn't turn this offer down.

"Okay." He didn't spare another thought for it. Instead he and Eko hurried off together, never tearing their eyes away from the ground.

* * *

_Kate looked behind her through the side window of the beat-up pickup truck she was riding in. Beside her, Ray was uneasily looking at the road, knowing that the woman sitting beside him knew he had betrayed her. _

"_How long have you known?" Kate demanded, unable to keep the hurt out of her voice. _

_Ray hesitated before answering, knowing he can't lie to her. "A couple o' days. I saw your picture in the post office. Like I said, I have a hell of a mortgage, Annie." _

"_My name's not Annie," Kate replies coldly, watching in her side mirror as the Marshal pulls up beside them, visibly taunting her even from different cars. _

_Desperate to find a way out, Kate lunges for the steering wheel, swerving the truck off the road and into a ditch. Kate seems to be unharmed, maybe a couple of scratches, but Ray is unconscious, much to her horror. _

_Kate pulls out the farmer from the truck, which is close to exploding and drags him back up to the side of the road. Just as she catches her breath she hears the click of a gun, and knows that the Marshal is beside her, and there is no escape. It's all over. _

The unwanted memory passed through her eyes for the second time on the island, as unwanted this time as the first. Kate didn't answer the man, not even sure how to.

"You don't have to answer. You did the right thing no matter how you see it. You save his life, yet you receive no ounce of gratitude from anyone. Not the Marshal, not the authorities in Australia. Good deeds are hard to come by nowadays, and are often overlooked."

Kate glared at him, not wanting to listen to any more of his words, but found that she was agreeing with him. Everything he had said so far was true. No one had ever said thank you for saving Ray's life, not that she had been expecting one. No one recently had been giving out any gratitude for all they had been given. She didn't even know the last time Jack had said thank you to her.

Tom smiled to the other man in the room, knowing he was getting through to Kate. It was all too easy. "Yes. The truth hurts, doesn't it? You had only wanted to help. You wanted to go with Jack to look for Michael, but he said no. Just made that decision for you like he was in charge of you. I'd bet everything I have that he gave up looking for you a couple days ago. I mean, there are more of your survivors out there than just you. He can't spend all his energy searching for you. What do you think? Do you think he's still out there?"

A tear slid down her cheek as she slowly shook her head. "No," she whispered, almost inaudibly, but Tom knew what she said.

"Don't get me wrong. He did assemble a search party and spent a few days out here looking for you. He was so close too," Tom let out a bitter laugh, a laugh which made Kate look up and stare hardly into his eyes.

"Jack was here? How do you know that?" she demanded.

"You can't think your little group are the only ones with lookouts, people willing to go somewhere."

Kate closed her eyes, trying to get the tears that were forming to disappear before they could see that they were breaking her down. Damn it, she should've been stronger than this! How could she just let her wall deteriorate in a matter of hours?

She didn't want to admit that they had a point. She didn't want to give in to their obvious truths. She didn't want to let go of her trust in Jack, and she certainly didn't want to let go of her hope that Jack was still out there somewhere, trying to find her, even though she hadn't wanted to be found.

She almost wished that she had let Sawyer follow her instead of shoo him away that day almost a week ago when she had felt so damaged that she had convinced herself that the only way she could move on was to leave the people that cared about her in a way she hadn't felt in such a long time.

"You must be hungry. I'll have someone bring up a plate of something. In the meantime, I will let you dwell upon all that I have told you. You can make your decision in the morning," Tom declared as he stood up importantly, making his presence full throughout the room even as he made to exit.

"Decision about what?" Kate demanded coldly, her anger coming second only to her confusion.

But Tom and the other man was out of the cell before Kate could get a real answer.

* * *

Sayid paced the beach, trying to figure out what to do next. He had never felt as helpless as he did just now. He wanted to talk to Jack, to see if there was anything at all he could do, but everyone he had spoken to since the search party had arrived back had told him that their doctor needed to sort out his thoughts alone.

He wanted Jack to know that he certainly wasn't alone in his pain. That there were so many others who were hurting from their loss of Kate. Jack had a way about him; he wanted to keep his burdens to himself, and Sayid wanted to take some of it away from him, just as Jack had done for him when Shannon had passed.

His insides boiled as he thought of his last love and the woman who had done it to her. He hadn't been at all surprised when he had discovered that Ana Lucia hadn't joined the search team in their efforts to find Kate. Sayid had basked in his silent victory. Maybe now the others would see that the leader of the tail section wasn't to be trusted at all.

But he couldn't think about her. He couldn't let his mind wander from the task at hand. Kate was his main priority, and he wanted to put all his efforts into finding her. He just couldn't figure out a way to do that from the beach. Frustrated, he turned from the others to enlist the help of the last person he would ever turn to.

Danielle Rousseau.

* * *

"We are close." Eko hadn't spoken for the last hour, and Jack knew better than to interrupt.

Jack lifted his head up and stared at what Eko was staring at. "How do you know?" he questioned.

"This is where your two teams met up again, is it not?" he asked.

Jack nodded. He had been explaining the findings (and losses) of the search party's attempts and actions whenever Eko had asked him.

"We met up, and about ten minutes later Locke announced that Kate had been taken by the Others," Jack explained briefly, hoping something useful would come out of this.

"Ten minutes?" Eko asked, although it was more to himself than to Jack. "If this is true, than she is definitely somewhere close. How far did your group get after passing this point before you turned back?"

Jack thought about this for a minute before answering. "A few hours. Locke stopped us a couple miles past here, but we didn't find anything. A couple hours after that, Sayid suggested we stop, go back, and try again later."

"You went too far. You were closer here than you were when you stopped." Eko gave him a knowing smile, one that Jack was too stunned to return. His insides were tugging at his brain and all of a sudden he had an unexplainable urge to leave the African man and find Kate on his own.

"Follow me. I think I can get us close if not there," Eko announced, stood up and headed right into a part of the jungle that looked much more menacing than it had just minutes before.

Jack wouldn't give up this time. Even if he had to venture all the way to Hell and back, he would find her and bring her back. So, with Eko leading the way, they went on.

* * *

The door to her cell opened, and a young girl no older than sixteen entered, carrying a plate of meat and some fruit and a small cup of water. She handed it to Kate, as well as a small piece of paper.

"What is this…"

But the girl shook her head, pointing to the paper. "Read carefully, then rip it up. They cannot know I gave you that," she whispered fearfully before leaving.

Finding this odd, Kate pushed the food aside, and opened the paper slowly.

_Ten minutes. Go to the door. Listen._

Frowning, Kate read this several times before doing as the girl said and ripping it up, stuffing the remnants into her jeans pocket. She drank her water then discarded the food, trying to judge when ten minutes would pass.

She didn't have to wait for long. A voice carried through the walls and into her ears, but it wasn't clear enough to distinguish from where Kate was sitting.

She stood up from her chair, then walked over to the door, pressing her ear to it, trying to listen to what the voice was saying. What she heard made her heart stop.

"Two men have triggered the alarm. They are two of her survivors. What do you want me to do?"

To her horror, Tom answered in a cold and calculating voice. "Take care of them."

* * *

_A/N: Yay, my first real cliffhanger! What do you think?_


	6. Getting A Handle On Hope

_A/N: Thanks to those who reviewed! Your input means a lot. Hope you all like this chapter._

* * *

Jack sighed as Eko turned around for possibly the hundredth time since they had entered the part of the jungle that Locke and the rest of the dismantled search party. The clearing they happened to be in was full of twigs and branches that had fallen from nearby trees, which reminded Jack of a forest more than a jungle.

He had noticed that they had slowed their pace, and that Eko was looking around him, taking in his surroundings much more than he had been, almost as if he was searching for a mysterious being known only to him. It had crossed his mind to ask why, as he would have in normal circumstances. But this time was different, and they both sensed it.

He could feel his heart pounding away madly in his rib cage, a drumstick beating upon it with never ending force. Beads of sweat stuck to his forehead, bringing unwanted stains to his shirt as the beads crept further down his body. He suddenly felt exposed and vulnerable, and the fact that he only had one gun on his person was making itself extremely clear at that particular moment. His hand had crept down to the lining of his jeans absent-mindedly, the feeling of the metal bringing a cool sense of relief through him.

"We should've brought more than this," Jack decided to finally point out, though what good the knowledge would do there he did not know.

Eko didn't reply, though Jack thought he saw a slight nod coming from the already alert man. He didn't like this feeling of exposure and vulnerability, and all of a sudden he wished that he was back at the hatch, plotting with Sayid how to get Kate back, using the proper amount of caution. Going out with Eko now felt foolish and unplanned, although he couldn't think of any other person he felt safer with in this part of the jungle.

Jack couldn't understand how they could keep going deeper and deeper and not run into anyone. Half of him almost predicted finding Kate's body somewhere out there, and the people who had taken her were waiting for them to find her so that they could kill them too. The scary part of that was that the scenario seemed almost likely. Jack almost welcomed the thought of them lurking somewhere hidden, waiting to take them and kill them. At least then he wouldn't have to keep looking, holding onto a hope that grew darker and darker with every day that passed. If they indeed kill Kate, then maybe they would be reunited in a better place, a place where they didn't need to keep looking over their shoulders.

He could almost hear her then, her voice rising above all the fear and mixed feelings in his head. _"When did you become so pessimistic all of a sudden? Have a little faith in me, would you?" _He almost laughed, knowing that those would be the exact words she would use.

He had placed plenty of faith in her, probably more than anyone else had placed in him. After all, he hadn't known Kate when he had asked her to sew him back up. He didn't know her name, her age, her dark past, nothing. And yet, he had still asked her to sew him back up, his life practically in her hands.

So why the hell did he think that, when she managed to get herself kidnapped, she could no longer take care of herself? She had proven herself in difficult situations; he had seen that for himself only a few weeks ago. Why was it that he kept considering her to be completely different after one little kiss?

"_I'm sorry." _

"_You're sorry?" Jack challenged, more harshly than he had intended. _

_Kate turned around, visibly shaking in her rage, something that Jack hadn't seen from her and it scared him. "Yeah, I'm sorry! Sorry that I'm not as _perfect _as you! Sorry I'm not as _good!_" she had snapped at him. _

_She made to turn around and walk away again, but Jack reached out for her wrist, something that Kate did not want him to do. "Let go of me!" she had cried out, but Jack wouldn't. She tried to pull away from him, breaking down right in front of him. _

"_I can't! I can't!" she kept crying out, and all Jack could think to do was hold her and tell her that everything was okay, that everything would be fine. She had looked so defeated, so haunted. When he had looked into her eyes, searching for an answer, he had found pain. So much pain that it scared him. Yet, at the same time, he had found a cry for help. Help that he somehow knew that she wasn't sure was coming. _

_He hadn't expected the brush of her soft lips against his, hadn't expected the feelings that had passed from her to him, and definitely didn't expect to find him returning it, to the point where Kate broke away and had run again. _

Jack was so absorbed in the memory that he hadn't seen Eko stop, his hands up, looking at the group of all too familiar faces standing in front of them.

* * *

Kate didn't know what to do. True, there wasn't much, but she felt that if she wanted to, she could tear the metal door off its hinges. Somehow she needed to get to Jack, warn him of what was going to happen.

If he was dead, she would never forgive herself because it would be all her fault. If she hadn't been so self absorbed, then they would still be at the beach, conferring with each other over the usual small talk. She had loved those moments with Jack, most of them at least.

She could hear the opening of a door somewhere beyond where she was currently being held, and at least three sets of footsteps could be heard traipsing through the facility in which she was being held. All she could do was listen anxiously, hoping that she didn't hear what she was dreading.

"What of them?" the man known as Tom demanded.

"We…convinced them that they were heading into forbidden territory. They won't be back," said a much younger sounding man, probably no older than eighteen.

"Are there people stationed at the entrances? They might come back in the middle of the night," Tom stated obviously, sounding as though only he could possibly have foreseen this.

"Of course, sir. But they know not to come back. They have been informed of what will happen if they do," the man said, sounding quite proud of himself.

Kate's insides churned at these words. She could only imagine what these people could have done to convince them not to look in the right direction. They had threatened to kill her; it was clear by the man's tone of voice. She only hoped that Jack knew better than to take them at their word. All those years on the run hadn't impacted her critical thinking.

These people needed her for something. She wasn't sure of what yet, but she knew that it had to be important, otherwise they would have just killed her, or let herself be killed by all the unknown elements that awaited them all in the mysterious jungle.

"Well, we can't underestimate the doctor's intelligence. We need to move faster. Get her to The Room." Tom's voice held an air of finality, and even Kate would've followed his orders if he had addressed them to her. Her mind was still reeling from all that she had overheard, so much that she didn't notice the door opening, the two pairs of arms that grabbed her own, taking her from her cell into what promised to be a much darker and depressing place.

* * *

"Hello again, Jack." The voice sent a chill down Jack's spine as he glared into the eyes of the man that was always at the bearded guy's side. The man was young with dark brown hair, and a smirk of knowing something than he or Eko did not.

"Let us by," Jack demanded coldly, not at all in the mood to deal with these people.

The man looked like he was thinking in the opposite direction. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that. You see, as you might remember, a couple of nights we informed you of the boundary, and the consequences that come with the violation of the boundary. This is amongst that land." The dark-haired youth sounded like he enjoyed telling this to Jack almost as much as Jack hated hearing it.

"Where is she? If you harm her, I swear to God…"

"You'll what? Beat us to death with your sticks?" the man laughed. "We have all your weapons. You can't do anything to us that we haven't already prepared for. The girl is fine, for now, as long as you obey these rules. If you ever think about coming here again, we'll kill her, nice and slowly, and we'll tell her why. She'll die knowing that you were the one that did it," he explained.

Jack turned to Eko, trying to figure out what he was thinking, what was going on inside of his mind, but found that his poker face was one of the best that he had ever seen.

"Remember what I said. And tell your friends. If we see just one, we'll kill her. And we'll know whether you do or not."

And with that, the man and those that he was with turned their backs on him, seemingly unafraid of what Jack and Eko might do to them. Jack was about to take a step, preparing to pounce on him and demand that they take him to Kate, but Eko stopped him by grabbing his wrist.

"No. We must listen."

"What? We have to find her…" Jack started incredulously, feeling for a second time that he was the only person who truly wanted Kate to be found.

"There are other ways of finding something, and right now we need to do as he says. Anything we can do at this point will seal her fate. This needs to be handled quietly," Eko assured him. Somehow, these words made Jack feel better, calmer than he had a few hours ago. Eko had to have a plan.

"Right now we need to go back to the others. From there we will decide what to do," he continued, then turned around, with Jack at his heels.

* * *

The hands threw Kate into a much smaller and darker space. She had only stumbled two spaces before her body made contact with a brick wall. She slid to the floor hardly, and she hit her head on the floor. Without another word, the door was shut and locked behind her, once again making her a prisoner, only this time she was a prisoner without anything.

Rubbing the back of her head, she stood up, feeling with her other hand just how much space this room contained. There wasn't much. Going from the front of the room to the back only took four steps, and going from side to side was five. It was tall enough that Kate could stand to full height, but the top of her head brushed slightly with the ceiling, which was all brick.

If she had anything other than her bare hands, she knew she could've managed to dig her way out. That was what angered her the most; the fact that she could actually get herself out, but couldn't.

She could feel the tears fighting to get out, but wanted to push them away. She couldn't let them see her weak and defenseless. It would only make things easier for them, and harder for her.

This was exactly what she had been afraid of. Being locked somewhere, confined so that she couldn't run when she needed to. Because it all came back to the same conclusion; Kate needed to run. Needed to keep moving because then she couldn't become attached or vulnerable. It brought out the worst in her. Even growing up she had had the worst case of claustrophobia than anyone else around. Wayne had found that out, and had used it against her to get his way on more than one occasion.

She sat down, giving in to the inevitable, when she felt something brush against her leg. Feeling around, her heart skipped a beat when she found exactly what she had been looking for.

The handle of a gun.

* * *

A/N: I know I said that wrong, but I don't know what the handle of the gun is called. Other than that, I thought it was pretty good. Yay for another cliffhanger! Please let me know what you think! 


	7. Desperate Time, Desperate Measures

_A/N: Hope y'all like! Glad to see there are still people reading! Just to let y'all know, I might not be able to update as frequently because I really need to finish my summer assignment. Ugh, I know. Don't worry, I will still do my best to update as soon as I can, but that might be hard seeing as how school starts in three weeks. Anyway, just keeping ya on the heads up. Enjoy the chapter, and remember that if I owned Lost, I wouldn't be writing fanfics._

* * *

"Do you really think she's ready for this?" Greg asked hesitantly. He knew he was out of line asking, but he figured that if he didn't at least as the question for the woman's sake, then no one would.

Tom shrugged. "That doesn't matter anymore. We need to quicken the pace. Those survivors are finding more and more ways to push their limits. If we don't start doing something soon, then they may get one-up on us," the older man explained, and it was like he was the only person who could ever know this.

Greg nodded. "I understand. What do you want me to do next?" he asked, eager to help.

Tom gave him a considering glance, as if surveying the young man for something only he could see. Finally he nodded. "Go see if Gale is ready. Then go prepare her," he ordered, and the two men went their separate ways.

They did not see the teenage girl hiding behind a wall, taking in every word.

* * *

Jack was silent during their long trip back to the hatch. He didn't want to say anything because he already knew what the Nigerian man would say if he expressed his thoughts. That they needed to plan this out more carefully, better equip themselves, etc.

He was mildly surprised when the hatch came into view. He didn't think that they had gone out that far, but then he remembered that they didn't go as deep as they had when Locke had been leading the search team before. He entered the hatch without waiting for his companion and put his gun down onto the counter. He walked into the computer room because he knew that Locke would be there as usual, waiting to push in the numbers like he always did.

Sure enough, the older man sat in the chair, writing something on a piece of paper, occasionally turning his head to spare a glance at the computer as if waiting for it to show him something amazing.

"John," Jack called, walking into the room with an air of someone who was planning something.

Locke sensed this, and smiled a bit as he asked, "Yes?"

"Have you seen Sayid? I need to talk to him about something," Jack explained briefly, hoping that Locke wouldn't ask why.

But Locke didn't have to ask why. He knew already. "Would this something happen to be another plan to get Kate back? How many times are you going to go out there before you come to the same horrible conclusion the rest of us have?" he asked as he turned the chair in the doctor's direction as a sign of him holding his full attention.

Jack smiled unbelievably and turned his head away so he didn't have to look into Locke's sympathetic eyes. "I'm not going to go into this with you. You've already voiced your opinion on this. I was just asking you whether you've seen Sayid or not. Have you?" he demanded.

Locke's smile disappeared. "No, not for an hour or so. If I see him I'll give you a call," he promised seriously and turned his attention back to the computer.

Jack didn't say anything as he turned back to leave the hatch.

* * *

Sawyer couldn't concentrate on anything. Ever since they had gotten back from their expedition into the jungle he hadn't felt quite the same. He had taken out a book from his collection, but had read the same sentence for ten minutes, and gave up when he found that he still didn't comprehend exactly what it said.

He had then taken out a cigarette in the hopes that the smoke would distract him from the dull pain he was feeling in his chest, though it was nothing to do with his health.

When that didn't work, he resorted to staying put on the beach just watching the waves crash into the rocks below. He knew that if he went back into the jungle to distract himself he would be overcome with the temptation to go back and search for Kate even more, and he knew that if he did he would get lost in his futile attempts.

He regretted more than anything not trying to continue following her. He could probably have talked her out of leaving if he had tried long and hard enough. She may be stubborn, but she always saw what was best in the end. Surely she had to have realized somewhere along the line that what she was doing was just stupid and had to come back.

But then he remembered Locke telling everyone that Kate had been taken, and that made the pain in his chest increase tenfold. If he had kept following her than he might have been in the same predicament she was in. He wouldn't mind. In fact he _almost _welcomed it.

"Sawyer." The deep voice of one of his least favorite people filled his ears and he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then opened them, putting on a false smile that he knew Jack hated.

"Doc."

"Have you seen Sayid?" he asked, standing up in front of Sawyer in what one could call an intimidating posture.

"Can't say as I have. Why? You two going to do some secret plotting without the rest of us?" he asked, standing up to meet Jack's gaze.

When he didn't receive a denial, or an answer of any kind, Sawyer gave him the reply he knew Jack didn't want to hear. "Well, I've got some news for you. Try not to take it too personally. But you're not the only one who cares about Freckles. If you want to put together another little escapade and play hero again, you might want to include the rest of us. We're not very keen on just sitting around and just waiting for her to either waltz right back into our arms or turn up dead somewhere."

"You might think differently if you knew what the others were saying behind your back."

Sawyer let out a bitter laugh. "I've already heard the talk. No one seems to think one of our best trackers can't take care of herself. If you want to put together another rescue mission, it's fine by me, but you can include me in."

Sawyer could see the wheels in Jack's mind turning. He knew that he couldn't say no. He knew that saying no to a volunteer was hurting Kate more than helping.

"Okay. You're in. But we need to find Sayid first," Jack gave in, and handed Sawyer a gun as he turned to leave.

* * *

Kate rubbed her hand against the newly found gun as if she had never seen anything quite like it before. It hadn't been that long since she had seen one, only about two months. But it felt much longer. She was surprised by how much she missed it. She knew she was a horrible person for missing it.

Now it brought her nothing but joy. She placed the gun in the lining of her jeans in the back so that there was a chance that the Others wouldn't notice that she had it. The handle stuck out the most, put in that position on purpose just in case she needed to make a break for it.

She slid to the ground, her knees brought up close to her chest. She wrapped her arms around her legs, and pretended like she had never found anything resembling a new-found hope, and put on a petrified face, just in case they decided to barge in unexpectedly.

She didn't have that long to wait. Only they didn't barge in. She could hear the lock turning from the outside, and the door opened leisurely, as if they weren't in any hurry to get to her. To her disgust, Tom's face greeted her, and Kate resisted the temptation to roll her eyes.

"I know you must be wondering why you were brought here, instead of your previous residence," he said in what could only be described as a sympathetic voice, though Kate knew he was anything but compassionate.

"You've wondered that twice now, and I haven't gotten an answer for either time. Are you hear to tell me, or are you hear to goad me on yet again?" Kate asked smartly, doing her best to keep the bitterness out of her voice.

Tom smiled his famous smile. "I'm afraid to say that I am on orders not to tell you anything yet, but I promise that soon you will know all that you need to. For the time being, I can only tell you that this is just temporary and that you will be out of here sooner than you think."

"And by here, I'm assuming you mean just the room, am I right?"

"I'm afraid so. If we let you go now, it's giving them what they want. They cannot be rewarded for their disobedience. They will soon understand what happens when they disobey, I can promise you that," Tom replied, though Kate wasn't sure he was talking to her anymore.

"What do you mean?" she asked. Were they talking about Jack? Was this about the other day? Or were they talking about someone else, someone only they seemed to know about?

Tom paled just then, and for the first time, Kate could see him just as scared as she felt. "Oh no. Oh no no no. I shouldn't have said that!" he repeated in a terrified voice, and his eyes wandered up to the corner right above Kate's head.

Kate followed the man's gaze up above, and to her horror, she could now see a small camera.

"They can see me?" she demanded, her voice filled with fear as well. Did they see her take the gun? Suddenly an unpleasant thought occurred to her. What if she was meant to find the gun? What if they put it there on purpose, to see what she would do with it?

She decided not to react more than she already did. "What are you talking about? What the hell is going on?" she cried, but Tom was already out of the door, slamming it shut and locking it behind him as he did.

Kate sighed in defeat and fell back against the wall. _Great, _she thought anxiously, _they're watching me._

Where the hell was Jack?

* * *

Alex watched in bittersweet satisfaction as Tom hurried from The Room trembling in fear. He knew as well as she did that Gale could see and hear everything that went on there. She had heard him as well muttering to himself about Jack. He was in for it. For once it wasn't her.

She carefully took out the keys that she had swiped from Greg. She needed to tell Kate before they came back for her. She needed to know exactly what she was up against before they started the real damage.

Alex had seen it happen before. Keep their prisoner isolated from much human contact. Make them think they were going crazy until they believed whatever Tom or Gale said. Made them think it was their destiny to serve them and the island until their time was up.

She couldn't let that happen to Kate. Kate was too good to be put through it. She wouldn't, even if she suffered the fate they promised her that they would give to her if she helped one of them escape again.

She took slow and determined steps on her way to The Room. She held the keys tightly in her hands, stifling the sound of them clanking together. When something echoed in these halls, it was heard throughout and filled everyone's ears, and there was no hiding from them. They would know that she was going to help Kate, and she could not let that happen.

It felt like an eternity before she reached the door. Looking behind her shoulders for signs of anyone crossing her path, she waited two minutes before deciding that she was, in fact alone.

She cautiously fit the key through the lock, and gently turned it until she heard the click to indicate that it was unlocked.

Before she could open the door, it opened on it's own, and before she knew it, she felt the cold metal against her cheek, and found that Kate was standing behind her threateningly, holding a gun against her cheek.

* * *

_A/N: Sorry about the delay. Nothing I can say except summer homework. Horrible, I know. Thanks so much to **jimmy-barnes-13, shirik, Numbers, Orlando-crazy, Peppy87, and DarknessBlossoms** for updating. Glad to see that you all like the story, and I hope this one doesn't disappoint. Please let me know what you all think._


	8. All The Best Laid Plans

_A/N: Hope you all like this chapter. If you could, please check out my new Lost fic, **Entwined Together**. I would really appreciate it. Thanks!_

* * *

Kate could feel her anger and frustration mounting after Tom or Mr. Friendly, or whatever had closed the door after realizing he had made a mistake of some kind. She had been there for probably two days at least, and already she felt as if she were going crazy.

All she knew that she needed to get the hell out of there. And she had a plan. The next time she was paid a visit by anyone, no matter who it was, she would put her rusty skills to the test. She hadn't been on the run for three years for nothing. Wasn't this the reason why she taught herself how to use a gun?

It all seemed so easy. She couldn't believe she hadn't thought of it before. She had gotten herself out of a lot of tight situations before, and why should this time be any different? These people were no different than any of the others back in the real world. They were just more elaborate.

The turn of the lock caught her attention, and she immediately stood up and walked over to the door. She tried to keep herself from just opening the door on her own, but knew that that wasn't the right way. She needed to get the other person to open the door and come right into the trap that Kate had set.

To Kate's surprise, it wasn't Tom, Greg, or even another of the men she had seen that night when she had been their hostage back in the jungle, used as leverage to get Jack to hand over the guns.

No, it was the teenage girl that she only vaguely remembered. She hid her surprise, however. She couldn't be caught off guard. She needed to be the one in control. She pressed the gun to the girl's cheek, trying not to feel too guilty at what she was doing.

"I need you to show me the way out," Kate whispered in her ear urgently, walking forward, dragging the girl with her as she did.

"I-I can't…"

"Yes, you can. And you will!" Kate snapped, impatience getting in the way of her good judgment.

"No, I can't! There are people guarding the doors! You can't just walk out because they'll find you!" the girl tried to reason carefully, though the fear was still detectable in her voice.

"Then you'll need to create a distraction. Just long enough for me to get out. You helped Claire escape from Ethan, I know you did! You can help me out too, can't you?"

Kate felt the girl's head move up and down in a nod, and sighed in relief. "You can put the gun down. It's unnecessary," she pointed out, and Kate did as she said and lowered the gun.

Alex led her down the hall, pushing Kate into the shadows of the walls if she heard anyone coming. Luckily they only passed one person, and he looked to be so absorbed in his own thoughts that Kate had a feeling that if she hadn't hidden he still wouldn't have noticed her presence.

"Okay, stay here until I tell you. They should go in the opposite direction, but stay hidden anyway. Once you're out, keep walking straight until you hit the circle of trees, maybe a quarter of a mile from here. From there you should be able to find your way back," Alex explained, and Kate nodded her understanding, taking in every word.

"I must warn you though," Alex spoke up suddenly, "if they notice you're missing, and you aren't back at your camp yet, they will find you, and they will bring you back here," she warned, a hint of fear in her voice.

Kate got the message. "I'll run fast: she assured the girl.

Alex seemed satisfied with her answer, and then turned the corner. "Tom told me to tell you that Henry needed you in the lab. Said it was pretty important. I'll keep watch over the door," Kate heard Alex say coolly.

"They couldn't just ask you and some other person?" a man with a surprisingly high-pitched voice questioned.

"Henry asked for you two," Alex replied. Kate heard the men groan in annoyance, but they got up and turned to the left. Kate watched as they walked slowly down the hall, in no hurry to get there, something that she was grateful for.

"Okay Kate. Go. And hurry!" Alex pleaded. Kate turned to look at the open door, and couldn't help but smile as she took one step at a time out of the Others' headquarters.

* * *

Jack and Sawyer walked along the beach in the direction of the rope that had once led to Rousseau's shelter. They had no idea if that was the way Sayid had gone, but if he was nowhere to be found, then they had a feeling he must've gone looking for the one person the Others didn't know was around, or had at least forgotten about.

Their patience was growing thin, though. They didn't have all the time in the world, as most of the other survivors had gotten into the heads. They wouldn't keep Kate forever; that much they were certain of. Time was of the essence, and if they didn't find Sayid soon, then they would be forced to come up with something on their own, since the others had pretty much made it plain that they didn't think she was still alive, so why waste their efforts?

"Jack! Jack! Sayid's back!" It was Charlie. He was running to catch up with Jack and Sawyer.

They turned their attention to Charlie, who was panting and pointing in the direction that the three of them had just come from.

Jack made eye contact with Sawyer, who nodded, and they hurried back to the camp, passing Charlie as they went, who was still catching his breath.

To their surprise, Sayid wasn't alone. In his wake was none other than Danielle Rousseau, the French woman, who had her gun hanging from her shoulder as she always did, looking at the other survivors in suspicion.

"Sayid! We need to talk," Jack called, and the four met up away from the others, who were doing their best to stall, walking slowly so that they could listen to their conversation.

"Yes, we do. I think I have a plan as to how to get Kate back. But we need your help," Sayid admitted.

"That's what we need to talk to you about. Mr. Eko and I went back into the jungle to try to find Kate. We were confronted by the Others, who made it quite clear that if we went back to find her, they would kill her. We need to approach this cautiously. They cannot find out that we're trying to find her again," Jack explained.

Sayid nodded, not looking shocked by this news. "Let me tell you about my plan, then we'll see where we get from there," Sayid suggested.

Everybody agreed, and they walked back to the hatch in silence.

* * *

"Alex said you needed to see us, sir," the first guard said as the two walked into the lab where Henry Gale was sitting in front of a scared Tom, who they knew was getting a telling-off for his slip of the mouth a couple minutes ago.

"For what?" Henry snapped angrily. He was not in the mood for this. Why didn't anything go according to plan?

"She only said you needed to see us," he said stupidly.

Henry Gale jumped out of his seat, fuming. "She's gone, isn't she? You let her get away!" he snarled.

The guards, realizing their mistake, could only nod in shame.

"I'm going to tell you what you're going to do. You're going to go out with Tom, and you're going to bring her back. And then you're going to make sure that she cannot get away again," he explained in a calmer voice, but it was much more dangerous.

He then turned his attention to Greg, who had just entered the lab, obviously wanting to figure out what was going on.

"You, Greg, are going to find Alex and bring her to me. We need to have a little chat," he hissed.

Greg nodded at once, and left just as suddenly as he had came. Henry then turned his attention back on the three men, who were considerably bigger than he was. "Well what are you still doing here? Get out there and bring her back to me!"

With that Tom shot out of his chair as if he had just sat on a hot poker, and followed the two guards out, knowing what needed to be done, and that they couldn't come back until they had succeeded.

* * *

Kate didn't slow down for anything. Her legs had started to feel like lead, but she kept pushing her muscles harder and harder. The words that Alex had last said to her kept ringing in her ears over and over, and knew that she couldn't have been any more serious.

She had finally entered a part of the land that looked more familiar to her, and knew that she was close now. Only about five minutes, and she would be safe. Five more minutes, and Jack would be there, waiting for her, and she would say she was sorry for running, sorry for not telling him.

* * *

Tom couldn't believe how fast they had gotten. They hadn't practiced in so long that of all things, he would have thought that they had gotten slower. But it seemed to be just the opposite.

The three men hadn't broken a sweat yet, and already Tom could tell that they were catching up. She was so close that he could practically taste it.

* * *

She found the spot where she had found Sawyer following her, and a burst of hope flooded into her heart. Only a few more seconds and she wouldn't have to worry about them anymore.

* * *

She was in view now. He could sense her slowing down a bit, as if she was starting to believe that she was safe now just because she was close enough to her friends that if one of them happened to go exploring, the first thing he would see would be Kate. Tom could only smile as the two guards were just seconds behind her, getting ready to intercept her.

* * *

Kate was beginning to see part of the hatch door. If she opened her mouth to scream out her arrival, probably half of the survivors would hear her, and she almost did exactly that.

If it wasn't for the two pairs of hands that had forcibly pushed her to the ground. One clamped his hands across her mouth so that she couldn't scream out for help, and the other one and taken her own hands behind her back, and she could feel them being tied together with some rope.

Finally she was pulled to her feet and she found standing in front of her was one of the guards Alex had distracted, and Tom.

"Hello again, Kate," he sneered.

A tear escaped her eye as she was led by the other guard back to where she had just fled from, and the only thing that she could process clearly was that she was never going to see Jack again.

* * *

_A/N: Please don't kill me! I know that was really mean of me to do, but this story is far from over. It's barely scratching the surface. This is actually where things are starting to be put into play, and you're going to find out just why the Others need Kate so badly in the next couple of chapters. Watch out for the next one!_

_Thanks to **Paddington, jimmy-barnes-13, Orlando-crazy, Peppy87, fallingacrossthesky, Numbers, and DarknessBlossoms **for reviewing! Keep them coming!_


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